Bio


Dr. Kelly Murphy is a graduate of Brown University's Program in Medicine and is currently a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health at Stanford University. Dr. Murphy received his post-graduate medical education at Brown University in its Internal Medicine program (ABIM Board Certified); sub-specializing in Obstetrical Medicine during his training.

He has worked extensively overseas in rural health with cooperative medical education projects in Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, and Nepal; and has consulted on others in Mexico and Niger.

His focus is on grassroots medical education and rural clinical care programs in the developing world; creating independent health care systems which are fully staffed, supported, and sustained by the local populations. Currently he is also working on national health care reform and development projects in the nation of Papua New Guinea.

Domestically his focus is on pre-clinical medical opportunities for student volunteers. He directs an international course at Stanford on a systematic approach to providing health care in undeveloped regions of the world.

Dr. Murphy also regularly volunteers in the Cardinal Free Clinics (“Pacific Free Clinic”) where he focuses his attention on pre-clinical medical education and training.

Dr. Murphy was formally a team physician for the United Football League’s California Redwoods and VTML for the NFL.

Clinical Focus


  • Internal Medicine
  • International Medicine
  • Sports Medicine

Administrative Appointments


  • Director, Papua New Guinea Medical Project (1997 - Present)
  • Director, Vietnam Medical Project (2001 - 2008)
  • Medical Review Officer, Stanford Hospital & Clinics (2008 - Present)
  • Director, Nepal Medical Program (2013 - Present)
  • CIGH Faculty Fellow, Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health (2015 - Present)

Honors & Awards


  • National Service Medal, Papua New Guinea (2007)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations


  • Member, Well Being Committee (2008 - Present)
  • International Advisory Board, Pacific Medical Center (Papua New Guinea) (2015 - Present)

Professional Education


  • Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine (2005)
  • Residency: Brown University Internal Medicine Residency (1990) RI
  • Medical Education: Warren Alpert Medical School Brown University (1987) RI

Community and International Work


  • Papua New Guinea Medical Project, Papua New Guinea

    Topic

    Rural Healthcare

    Partnering Organization(s)

    Pacific Medical Center

    Populations Served

    All

    Location

    International

    Ongoing Project

    Yes

    Opportunities for Student Involvement

    Yes

  • Pacific Healthcare Partners, Papua New Guinea

    Topic

    Healthcare Delivery

    Partnering Organization(s)

    Clinton Foundation, World Bank, AusAID, Sojitz Corporation

    Populations Served

    All

    Location

    International

    Ongoing Project

    Yes

    Opportunities for Student Involvement

    No

  • Nepal Medical Project, Nepal

    Topic

    Remote Grassroots Medical Education

    Partnering Organization(s)

    Nepal Ambulance Service

    Populations Served

    All

    Location

    International

    Ongoing Project

    Yes

    Opportunities for Student Involvement

    Yes

  • Wongchu Sherpa Girls School, Nepal

    Topic

    Math/Science Education for grade school girls

    Partnering Organization(s)

    Himalayan Yokpu Foundation

    Populations Served

    Rural Nepal Sherpa Community

    Location

    International

    Ongoing Project

    Yes

    Opportunities for Student Involvement

    Yes

Current Research and Scholarly Interests


A dire lack of basic health care currently exists in large parts of many developing countries. Through the collaboration of Stanford University students and faculty with the indigenous people of these regions, we hope to establish systems of health care stations for these rural regions. Our project endeavors to build an enduring and committed relationship with these communities via small, reproducible health care delivery programs. Ultimately, our goal is to create an independent healthcare system - fully staffed, supported, and sustained by the local villages, with no need for outside influence or direction. Not only do these projects provide crucial medical service and education for the people native to these regions, but it has also provided an invaluable learning experience for pre-clinical and clinical medical students, housestaff, and faculty volunteers.

2023-24 Courses


All Publications


  • Immediate Incubation Reduces Indeterminate Results for QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube Assay JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY Herrera, V., Yeh, E., Murphy, K., Parsonnet, J., Banaei, N. 2010; 48 (8): 2672-2676

    Abstract

    In vitro gamma interferon release assays (IGRAs) are increasingly used as an alternative to the traditional tuberculin skin test for the diagnosis of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Evaluation of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold in-tube assay (QFT-IT) prior to large-scale implementation at the Stanford Hospital and Clinics for a health care worker screening program revealed a critical preanalytical factor affecting the results. We found that incubation delay significantly increased the frequency of indeterminate results. In this study, QFT-IT was performed with samples from healthy volunteers, and replicate tubes were incubated at 37 degrees C either immediately or after a delay at room temperature for 6 and 12 h. No indeterminate results (0/41) were seen when the assay was performed with immediate incubation. Incubation delays of 6 and 12 h yielded indeterminate results at rates of 10% (2/20) (P = 0.10) and 17.1% (7/41) (P = 0.01), respectively. The increased rate of indeterminate results was due to a decrease in the mean values for the mitogen-nil tubes when incubation was delayed for 6 h (P = 0.004) and 12 h (P < 0.001). The rates of concordance of positive or negative results obtained following immediate incubation and following 6- and 12-h delays were 77.8% (14/18) and 79.4% (27/34), respectively. Subsequent implementation of the immediate incubation procedure in our screening program for 14,830 health care workers yielded an indeterminate result rate of 0.36% over a period of 12 months, a significant improvement over the reported rates of 5 to 40% for QFT-IT. We conclude that immediate incubation of QFT-IT tubes is an effective way to minimize indeterminate results. The effect of incubation delay on the accuracy of QFT-IT remains to be determined.

    View details for DOI 10.1128/JCM.00482-10

    View details for PubMedID 20519472

  • What is your diagnosis? WILDERNESS & ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE Young, J. B., Murphy, K. 2006; 17 (1): 49-51
  • Clinical images. Yaws. Wilderness & environmental medicine Young, J. B., Murphy, K. 2006; 17 (1): 49-51

    View details for PubMedID 16538946